The One
by akegata
Summary: Kagome tries to find her strength in the Sengoku Jidai. After a battle with Naraku, her decisions with suprise her enemies...and her friends. A/N: I do not own Inuyasha
1. Prologue

The One

Prologue:

She didn't know what made her do it. She saw the impending doom to her rival and all she could think about was how _he_ would react. He would be sad, right? She wanted him to be happy, no matter what.

With tears running down her face, she leaped in front of her rival and took the hit for her. The pain was unbearable. She heard her name from many different directions…was it her name, or someone else's? She couldn't remember. All she knew was pain. With a sickening slurping sound, Naraku's tentacle pulled out of her body. Falling to her knees, she looked up to make sure she was unharmed.

"Why? Why would you do such a thing?"

The voice sounded like it was underwater…wait, was she underwater? Why did she feel like she was drowning? She couldn't breathe. What was she doing, again? Oh yeah, _her_.

"He…would be…sad…if you died," she managed to whisper. The agonizing pain coursing through her body was white hot and made her vision dim and waver. The woman crouched down in front of her, amazement in her gaze.

She didn't know how much time passed…seconds, minutes, hours. Her whole world was pain, she couldn't remember anything else. _I didn't realize that dying felt like this_, she thought. Whenever she imagined her death it never hurt this much…

With a soft exhalation, she feel forward onto the woman. The battle raged on below them, no one else able to come to their aid. No one else realizing the death of their comrade.

A/N: I do not own Inuyasha.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

"I think that one looks like a bat youkai, Kagome!" A high pitched voice exclaimed pointing to the blue sky scatted with fluffy white clouds.

"You think so, Shippou? I was thinking it was a frog!" Kagome said with a giggle. "What do you see, Sango?" Kagome turned her head to the taijiya sitting on a fallen log, her Hirakostu in her lap. Sango didn't pause her polishing and looked up to the cloud in question.

"Ano, it looks like Kirara," she commented with a smile. The neko-youkai mewed at the sound of her master saying her name, but didn't move from her position next to Sango while she sunned herself.

Rolling over, Kagome smiled wider. I was a beautiful day in Sengoku Jidai, she was on summer break at school so she didn't have any homework that was pressing (or exams for that matter), and she was spending time with her friends that was more carefree that she can remember.

Ever since they had gotten out of the belly of that youkai, there had been more days like this that she could remember. Looking down at her feet, she could just make out the scars from that encounter above her socks. With a wince, she wished for Inuyasha's healing ability. With a sigh, she got up from the grass with an absentminded pat on the head to Shippou who had dosed off, and headed to her friend.

"When do you think the guys will be back?"

"I don't know. They just went to the village to the west yesterday. Houshi-sama guessed that they would return sometime today."

"I wonder why they didn't want us to join them," Kagome asked while scratching the neko-youkai's ear. Kirara purred and rolled onto her back for more scratching.

"Inuyasha said something about it only being a lower-level youkai and that there were no jewel shards to be found so why bother with all of us. Only he added a few 'weak humans' and 'fehs' to the conversation."

With a giggle at Sango's dry tone, Kagome still wondered why the men went off by themselves because normally Inuyasha wanted to be on the road looking for Naraku and the Shikon no tama, or he couldn't be bothered by humans in need of help.

"Well, since we don't know when they are going to return, I'm going to take this opportunity to go home for a few days. I haven't seen Mama or Jij-chan or Souta in ages! Plus I need to get more Ramen for Inuyasha or I'll never hear the end of it!"

"When should I tell Inuyasha that you will be back?"

"Hmmm, tell him I'll be back in a week. It's not like there are any shards to find, anymore. I'm pretty useless to him until we get an idea of where Naraku is hiding."

"A week? Kagome, you know he won't last that long! If I tell him you will be back in a week, he'll be there tomorrow!"

With a sigh, Kagome leaned over to pick up her enormous yellow bag. "I know, but it is still worth a try! Ja ne!"

With that, Kagome hopped over the well's edge and disappeared in a flash of blue light. With a sigh, Sango put down her boomerang and walked to the well's edge to peer over the side. She knew why Inuyasha had insisted that the men go alone, but she didn't want to be the one to tell Kagome.

"Enjoy your time, Kagome. Inuyasha will be there soon to bring you back," she said to herself with a sigh. She turned back to her companions and noticed that both were sleeping. With another sigh, Sango repositioned herself on the log and prepared to polish her weapon some more.

* * *

"Hurry up, you lecher! We ain't got all day, ya know!" Inuyasha glanced over his shoulder to catch sight of the sprinting houshi behind him.

Miroku glared at the inu-hanyou in front of him, but didn't spare his precious breath for a retort. They had been running since the morning and he was using every bit of energy he had to keep up. He knew he wouldn't last much longer.

"Inuyasha, perhaps a break is in order. Sango-san and Kagome-sama are at the village and they will still be at the village in another hour." With that, Miroku stopped and tried to catch his breath.

"Keh, weak humans! I could have been there by now if it wasn't for you!"

"Then by all means, Inuyasha, go ahead without me," Miroku responded with a groan as he sank to the ground to lean against a tree.

Arms crossed, Inuyasha waited for the houshi to recover as he thought about getting to Kaede's village as soon as possible.

"I've been meaning to ask you, Inuyasha. Just why is it that you wanted only me to come with you and not the girls?"

"Feh! None of your business, lecher!"

"I ask because this is happening more and more often as of late. About once a month in fact…" Miroku was not put off by the inu-hanyou's gruffness, he was used to it.

"You don't know what you are talking about!" Inuyasha stormed to the other side of the clearing with a snarl.

"I wonder if it has something to do with Kagome-sama…" Miroku leered at Inuyasha. _3…2…1.._-

"You lecher!! It has nothing to do with Kagome!" Inuyasha growled and jumped into a tree.

Miroku chuckled at his friend's predictable response. _At least now I can get some rest while he's pouting_, he thought as he closed his eyes.

Inuyasha fumed in the tree, picturing ways to kill Miroku without letting the girls know what he did. He had no desire to be sat into the center of the earth while being hit in the head with Sango's huge-ass weapon.

The truth was, it was because of Kagome that he had started taking Miroku out once a month on these stupid trips. Kagome was changing before his eyes…or should he say, his nose. Just the thought of her smell at this time of the month made him hot and uncomfortable. His blood seemed to respond to it and we he was around her a few months ago at her time, he had kept a death-grip on Tetsiaga to keep his youkai blood in check. Everything inside him was telling him to claim her as his mate…but neither of them were ready for that.

Not realizing that his face had turned red at the thought of mating with Kagome, Inuyasha tried to think of some way to stop his blood from responding so strongly.

_Wait a minute…that's the smell of blood!_ Whipping his head to the east, Inuyasha sniffed again. Unmistakable, the smell of blood was on the wind. And it was coming from Kaede's village.

"Get your ass in gear, Miroku! I smell blood coming from the village!" Without waiting, Inuyasha started leaping from branch to branch as fast as he could.

_Kagome! You better be alright!_ He thought as he sprinted through the forest. _Kagome! _


	3. Chapter 2

"Hiraikotsu!"

Sango threw her weapon at the praying mantis youkai that had attacked the village moments after Kagome had left for her time. The mantis caught the weapon in its mandibles and spit it onto the ground. Sango didn't waste any time in urging Kirara, in her large form, to swoop down to get it.

"Where is Inuyasha?" The mantis hissed, taking a swipe at one of the huts. "I must kill Inuyasha!"

"Inuyasha? What do you want with Inuyasha?" Sango asked the creature as she picked up Hiraikotsu and prepared to hurl it again. Glancing behind her, she saw that Shippou and Kaede had rounded up most of the villages out of harms way. Too bad the youkai had attacked before she arrived and two farmers lay dead near their huts.

"I don't have to answer you, human! Tell me where Inuyasha is!" The youkai screamed and swung a massive foreleg at Sango and Kirara, causing the taijiya to abort her throw and Kirara to fly higher.

"I'm right here, you bastard!"

"Inuyasha!" Sango looked down and saw Inuyasha, Tetsusaiga transformed, glaring at the enormous youkai.

"Sango! Where's Kagome?"

"She left for home before this creature attacked!"

_Kagome_, he thought, _I'm glad you're safe_.

"You are Inuyasha? I have come to kill you!"

"I'd like to see you try!" Inuyasha yelled as he prepared the Kaze no Kizu he was known for.

"Inuyasha! Stop! You'll wreck even more of the village!" Sango shouted at her friend.

"Keh! Fine! You want me? Come and get me!" With that, Inuyasha ran for the forest, hoping the mantis followed.

"I will kill you!!" The mantis screamed, stomping on huts to get to the hanyou.

* * *

With a sigh, Kagome pulled herself over the edge of the well and looked up at the sky.

"I can't believe they went on a trip to Kyoto without me. And they are going to be gone all week!" She shoved her yellow bag over the edge and heard it hit the ground with a thud. "Well at least I got some supplies for everyone. Inuyasha better not complain about how much Ramen I brought him!" She pulled herself out entirely and bent down to get her bag.

"So you are the one with the Shikon no Kakera. Give them to me and I might spare your life."

With a sense of dread, Kagome looked up and into the eyes of a humanoid youkai. His eyes were completely yellow and his green hair hung to his waist in a low pony-tail. Arms crossed over his chest, leaning against a tree, he would have seemed very unthreatening if not for the menacing youki in the air that pushed against her miko aura. He was wearing clothing similar to Sesshomaru, but his was a deep blue with green flowers and no armor.

_Great, Kagome, what a time to forget your bow at Kaede's! What am I supposed to do?_

"I don't know what you are talking about," was all she could say to him, he voice not betraying her fear. She flipped her hair behind her shoulder in a show of nonchalance, but her hands were shaking.

The youkai chuckled. "Allow me to introduce myself, little miko. My name is Keikanmushi. I was sent here to retrieve the Kakera and kill the hanyou known as Inuyasha. I have no need to kill you, but I will to achieve my goals. Now, hand over the Kakera and I will spare your pathetic human life."

"Inuyasha!" Kagome gasped. _Good thing Inuyasha is still away_, she thought. But how was she going to get out of this without getting herself hurt, or worse, killed. Glancing at the well behind her, she wondered if she could jump in without him reaching her, then she could escape into her world. But what then? This youkai would learn her secret. Instead, she decided to stall. "Who sent you?"

With another chuckle, the youkai pushed himself off the tree and walked toward her.

"You really want to know, little miko? I bet you could guess. But in case humans are dumber than I thought, I will tell you. It was Naraku."

"Naraku! Why would he send you and not one of his creations?"

"Now I am losing patience, little miko. I will kill you if you stall anymore. Give me your Kakera!" With that, he backhanded Kagome and sent her flying across the clearing. She hit a tree with her back, hard, and fell to the forest floor. She rolled over onto her stomach and gasped as she tried to return air to her lungs. Trying to get to her knees, she didn't even see him coming towards her. With a move as quick as lightening, Keikanmushi had Kagome by her throat and held her up to his height.

"Little miko, I will give you one more chance to give me the Kakera," his voice was quiet, his tone menacing.

Kagome struggled to see him clearly as he pressed against her windpipe. _Inuyasha where are you? _Was all she could think as her vision dimmed.

"Inu…ya…sha…" she gasped.

"Oh no, you can't pass out yet, little miko." His grip lessened and Kagome dragged air into her lungs. Still holding her by her throat, his claws dug into her vulnerable skin. "Are you going to give me the shards? Or am I going to kill you?" He asked reasonably.

"I…would never give….the Shikon no Kakera…to someone…like…you!" She managed to say.

With a growl, Keikanmushi threw her into the tree again. "Do you know what kind of youkai I am, little miko? I am a mantis. I had one of my kind go to the village that Inuyasha resides in to kill everybody until he shows up. I wonder how everybody is faring…" He crouched down so that she could see his face as she laid there holding her throat. "We are hunters…the best out there. No one will be left alive. And you are about to join them, little miko."

Neither were expecting the tree they were under to come crashing down. With his quick reflexes, Keikanmushi flashed out of the way of the falling tree, but Kagome was not so lucky. The tree fell onto her, pinning her to the ground. _Inuyasha_… she thought as she slipped into unconsciousness.

"Keh! Is that all you got?" Came from the inu-hanyou. "I think it is about time I introduced you to my Tetsusaiga! Kaze no Kizu!"

With a flash of light, the praying mantis youkai screamed and was torn apart by the attack. Inuyasha smirked and went to sheath his fang when he smelled Kagome's blood in the clearing…and the scent of a youkai. Turning he spotted the youkai smirking at him.

"Were you the one that sent that thing to attack the village?" Inuyasha asked as he held the fang on his shoulders.

"You must be Inuyasha. This works out well! I get the Shikon no Kakera and kill the hanyou all at once."

Inuyasha paused as he looked around the clearing for the source of the blood he could smell. "You bastard! Where the hell is Kagome?!"

The youkai laughed. "Is that the name of the little miko? She wouldn't give me the Kakera, so…"  
"I'll fucking kill you, you bastard!" Inuyasha whipped his fang off his shoulder and shouted, "Kaze no Kizu!"

Keikanmushi jumped out of the way and landed near the hanyou. With a swing of his arm, Inuyasha went flying back with the energy that had been released.

"Where is Kagome, you bastard!"Inuyasha shouted as he righted himself.

With another laugh, Keikanmushi walked over to the fallen tree and pushed it off of the unconscious miko. Picking her up bridal style, he held her close to his body. Inuyasha growled fiercely at the contact.

"Let her go, asshole!"

"Why should I? She possesses the Shikon no Kakera and she is quite beautiful. What is that I can smell? She is absolutely intoxicating. No wonder you keep her around, hanyou."

"Keep your nose away from Kagome! I'll cut you in half!" Charging at the youkai, Inuyasha raised his claws instead of Tetsusaiga but stopped short at the movement from the youkai.

"I don't think you want to do that, Inuyasha. What of your precious little miko?" Gripping her tightly, claws digging into her skin.

"Inuyasha!" Sango shouted from above the clearing on the back of Kirara. Miroku was behind her, gripping his Shakujo with both hands in front of the taijiya. Kirara landed next to Inuyasha and both stood next to their friend as he faced off with an unknown youkai. "What is going on? Oh no! Kagome-chan!"

"Kagome-sama!" Miroku was more than shocked at seeing Kagome in the youkai's possession, as Sango had just told him that Kagome had left for her time. "Who are you? What do you want with Kagome-sama?"

"My name is Keikanmushi. I was sent here by Naraku to kill Inuyasha and take the Shikon no Kakera. The little miko would not give up the kakera and I was just preparing to kill her and the hanyou," he said with an evil chuckle.

"We will not let that happen! Kazaana!" Miroku opened the wind tunnel without ceremony and the youkai laughed. Shifting the still unconcious Kagome, he sent a wave of energy towards Miroku, which immediately got sucked up into the void. Miroku's eyes widened when he realized the energy was poisoned and fell to his knees.

"Houshi-sama!" Sango knelt next to Miroku who was having a hard time getting all the beads back around his hand and breathing at the same time.

"It's alright, Sango," Miroku gasped as she helped put the beads in place. Both looked up to the youkai, Miroku's vision blurring around the edges. The poison was more powerful than Naraku's Saimyosho. It was all he could do to not fall face first on the ground.

"I think I will stop playing with you, hanyou. You are no fun now that you know you have no chance of beating me without your little miko dying," Keikanmushi grinned and shifted Kagome once more. Building up youki in his right hand, the greenish-yellow ball grew larger than his palm and sped off towards Inuyasha.

All were surprised by the arrow that was shot from the forest to purify the youki.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

_24 hours earlier…_

With birds chirping, the air a slight breeze – just enough to blow the faint scent of summer flowers throughout the forest – and the sun's gentle warmth, the day was beautiful. In the village, children played games, their laughter and squeals bringing smiles to the adults. Women were scattered in the fields, making each other giggle with stories about their families. A few of the elderly were scattered around, usually surrounded by some of the smaller children telling them stories of youkai and other scary monsters. The day was peaceful, simple, enjoyable.

For all but one.

Kikyo stood on the outskirts of the village, hidden amongst the trees. She could not feel the sun's warmth, nor take any enjoyment from the sound of the birds. To her, the day was any other day. She turned away from the peaceful village and made her way deeper into the forest. Walking slowly as her Shinidamachu floated around her, some carrying souls, others with empty arms.

_Ever since Kagome saved me, I cannot stop thinking about her and her kindness_, Kikyo thought as she passed through the forest unnoticed. _She did not have to save me; she put herself in danger because of me…again. What does this mean?_

There was something about that girl that she just didn't understand.

_Flashback_

_Kikyo, leaning against the wall of the Miko Fuiji, the miko eating youkai, looked up to see Kagome, her reincarnation and the one traveling with Inuyasha. The one who took Inuyasha away from her. _

_"I see that you are also a priestess," she commented, coldly._

"_Eh?" Kagome looks are her strangely, and then asked, "what are you doing here?" _

_Kikyo merely took a hard breath and exhaled ignoring Kagome's question. Kagome kneeled down beside her and asked more questions. _

"_Hmpf. Talkative, as usual," was all she responded with._

_Kagome stopped her questions, but at Kikyo's grimace of pain, she stood and said, __"We have to get out of here. There has to be a way!" She helped Kikyo to her feet and they looked around the cave._

_"You're just wasting your time," Kikyo tried to shrug off the younger woman who was trying to help her._

_"I won't die here! Lets go!" Kagome looked around again then looks to Kikyo. __"Eh, which way do we go?"_

_End Flashback_

She couldn't believe Kagome's strength that day. Not only had she escaped the Miko Fuiji, but she defeated the youkai. And she was able to save Kikyo. She didn't know if she would have done the same at the time. Would she have saved Kagome? Or would she been selfish and left her there? Kikyo didn't know the answer to that. And she was still surprised by the girls' answer to her question when they were about to part ways.

_Flashback_

_Kagome looked back at Kikyo as she was getting ready to walk away. Kikyo didn't really know what made her say anything, but she felt compelled to know the answer._

"_Why? Why didn't you just give up? Why did you trust me?"_

"_It's funny, isn't it? This is the first time we really talked. Yet, I don't know how to answer you," Kagome replied as she turned to face her rival. _

_Kikyo remained silent for a moment, then asked, "Then…why did you save my life? I am already dead."_

_Smiling sadly, Kagome answered, "Because someone would be sad if you died." With that, she turned and walked away. She didn't hear Kikyo respond._

"_He would be sad if you died, too."_

_End Flashback_

It took a lot of courage for Kagome to get through that ordeal, and Kikyo was amazed at how the girl hadn't even flinched, let alone wavered in her determination for both of them to survive.

_I don't think that girl knew how much danger we were in_, Kikyo thought. She shook her head in amazement. After everything that had happened, Kikyo was still wondering about the girl's motives. Surely no one could be that altruistic, that selfless. And yet she risked her body, her mind, and her life again so recently made no sense to the miko.

_Flashback_

_Standing next to her __shikigami, __Kochou and Asuka__, Kikyo stared at the unconscious form of Kagome. _Why did you save me, again, Kagome? _She thought to herself. When she had sent the shikigami to the young girl, she hadn't really expected her to follow. If she had somehow actually followed, she didn't expect the girl to make the decision to save her. Seeing that Kagome was coming around, she sought the answer to her question._

_"Why did you save me considering you had the choice?"_

_"I had no choice, not when I was the only one that could save you," Kagome replied, looking into Kikyo's cold eyes._

_"Since you didn't believe that you had a choice, I will not thank you for your help," Kikyo turns to leave, saying, "Inuyasha is on his way to find you."_

_"Why don't you stay here? I know he would want to see you," but Kikyo was already gone._

_End Flashback_

Kikyo knew Kagome had truly believed that she did not have the choice to save her – that was the kind of person she was. Kagome was everything that Kikyo always wished she could be: normal. As an untrained miko, Kagome did not have the same responsibilities that other mikos carried. She also had more energy than any other miko Kikyo had ever known…including herself. And she suspected that Kagome had more power that was hidden somewhere within herself.

If Kagome trained, would she be powerful enough to kill Naraku? Would she be able to purify the Shikon no Tama? Kikyo didn't know the answers to these questions, but she knew she needed to find out.

A/N: I do not own Inuyasha

The first two flashbacks were from Episode 98: Just Kikyo and Kagome in a Cave

The last flashback was from Episode 151: Kagome's Instinctive Choice

Thanks to everyone that has been reading!! Please review so I can know how I am doing!!


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